As you may have noticed, you’re no longer on MakingTheMogul.com.

For several reasons, I’ve decided to move my blog over to moearora.com/blog. The move was a little tricky – mostly because all the little technical things that were required were a little over my head; but everything should be pretty good now.

If you notice any broken links or missing images, please let me know on my contact page or on Twitter.

If you’re subscribed to my blog via RSS, there’s no need to update your settings, as they’ll remain the same. If you link my site, however, please update your blogroll with my new URL.

(Hopefully, I’ll actually post more now.)

[pic]

One of my biggest annoyances is receiving mass emails with my email address exposed in the TO or CC field; along with 500 other unsuspecting recipients. It breeds unwanted solicitation and spam, as well as encouraging others to dismiss netiquette.

If you need to send mass emails, please look into email marketing solutions and mailing list software. If you don’t want to pay for a mailing list service, and instead choose to simply use your regular email account, then please remember to use the BCC function.

If you’re unfamiliar with the BCC function in email, it stands for blind carbon copy. That means, when you place an email address in this field, the recipient will still receive your email, but their email address will not be exposed.

When sending mass email, you should enter ALL email addresses in the BCC field so that you don’t expose your contacts’ email addresses to others.

It’s just simple email manners, and your contacts will appreciate it.

I’m developing an almost zero-tolerance for non-BCC’d emails; regardless of whether if the sender is a friend/contact or not. I decided to post this as a reference point to direct all the non-BCC’ers out there.

Another point worth mentioning…

Another major email faux-pas is emailing the wrong address. If you are emailing a blogger, please check to see if they have a separate email account for music submissions or press.

Some of us have certain methods of managing our email, and by ignoring our request, you are making it difficult for us to pay attention to whatever it is that you are sending.

In my case, I ask that people only send direct communication involving business to my work email account. All other non-direct, non-work email should be sent to my blog email address.

I will often email people to remind them of my request, if they send it to the wrong address. If they continue to ignore it, I simply mark their email address as spam, causing their emails to be directed to my spam folder (which I never check) and eventually deleted. And it doesn’t matter who it is – I do this with friends too. (I’m ruthless, huh?)

If someone can’t respect my simple request, then they don’t need access to me anyhow.

So when I ask someone to email me at my blog email address; I am not dismissing their email – I’m simply asking that you send it to the account that I will check on my computer, when I have the time to go through it, and watch/listen to the media that you’re sending me.

The main point is, when someone gives you their email address, they are giving you access to communicate with them. When you abuse it, you’re showing them that you do not appreciate that access – therefore not appreciating them.

No disrespect to those of you whom I, or someone else, have directed to this post – we’re just asking for some common courtesy.

This post is mainly something I’m posting so I can test out the WordPress for Blackberry application.

I installed it upon it’s release but still haven’t published anything with it – so I’m doing that now.

As if my Blackberry addiction wasn’t already bad enough, I think the ability to blog from it now is about to make me OD.

By the way, I know this is my first post in over a week, but I was fighting some crazy migraines for over a week now – so, yeah. (They’re gone now thankfully.)

Apparently, this app can also attach photos. Let’s end with that:

Yeah, I changed the design & layout of the blog… again.

Ah well.

Having a personal blog is more than just my outlet for whatever I post – it also helps me satisfy my need for constant change. Hence, the almost monthly redesign.

Anyways, any thoughts on the new look?

Here we are – another Monday morning and the start of a new week.

Many people loathe Mondays, and it’s very common to get stuck in our habits and forget why we’re doing what we’re doing.

Most of us say that we’re working towards financial freedom and the ability to take care of ourselves, our families and our loved ones.

That’s an highly respectable goal to have – and one that I believe most of us share.

But does it stop there?

What about giving back and helping bring positive change to your community?

Where does that fit into your plan?

As we start this new week, and new month, I want to share a video with you that puts you directly into that situation.

It’s an incredibly inspiring video from Fox’s “The Secret Millionaire” in which 26 year old self-made, multi-millionaire, Gurbaksh Chahal, moves into a poor neighborhood and mingles with the locals to learn their stories and how he can help.

A quick heads up; this video is broken down into 4 parts and is about 40 minutes all together. So, if you’re at work or in class, just remember to watch this when you’re free.

You’ll be thankful that you did.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMAKwl1GW-I]
Part 1/4

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZMwXRvbysY]
Part 2/4

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=he_fXJnq_g8]
Part 3/4

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-19ch5clrio]
Part 4/4

Click here to watch other episodes from “The Secret Millionaire”

In one of Diddy’s late night Twitter/YouTube posts, he reminds everyone what it takes to accomplish your goals – lock into your dreams!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81UZgJAkRik]

Probably the most organized/choreographed flash mob, stages a musical performance in Belgium.

Wow.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq6b9bMBXpg]

“My stalker just grunted on my twitter” Lol!

If you’re already on Twitter, you will find this hilarious. If you’re not already on Twitter, you’re falling behind! Join now and catch up!

This post has nothing to do with the music business, but I just wanted to share it with you guys.

This picture was taken by European astronomers a few days ago, and nicknamed, The Eye of God. It’s approximately 700 light years away and so wide that the light takes two and a half years to travel from one end to the next.

I find myself staring at this picture several times throughout the day – enough so, that I even made it the background image on my Macbook and my Blackberry so that I can see it repeatedly for inspiration:

You can find bigger versions of this picture, and pictures of other “Eye of God” moments by clicking here. You can also read about the picture here.

Sorry for the lack of updates this past little bit. I was in Atlanta for a bit, where the weather was so incredible, I’m trying to remember why exactly I came back to cold & snowy Montreal.

My trip was a mix of business & personal; as I went to take care of some work as well as celebrate my birthday with my fellow Feb 9′er, DJ Hotsauce (who shall now be known as Sawce, along the style of Rick Rawse the Bawse).

The entire trip was incredible and let me tell you, Southern Hospitality is very, very real! (Major shoutouts to Sawce & DJ Jelly)

Probably the funniest moment of my trip, was when I was walking into a venue to watch a live showcase and someone outside yelled out, “Yo! Are you Moe? You’re on Twitter right?”.

I’m sorry, but that right there is some cool-ass sh*t. Being recognized in a different city, and solely based off of Twitter? Eff yeah! Anyways, I digress (I still feel special though).

There were several people I was looking forward to meeting with, however due to the fact that many people were in LA for the Grammy’s and other scheduling conflicts, it didn’t work out – for this trip anyways.

Rather than shouting out everybody I met with (there are too many and I know I’ll end up forgetting a bunch), just know that everybody I met with down there is good peoples and it was a blast.

I’ll be back sooner rather than later, so I definitely look forward to meeting with everybody I connected with & all those whom I’ve yet to do so.

Interestingly, I kept getting the same comment from several people while there: that I need to update my blog more often.

I definitely intend to.

This counts as one.

This commercial is hilarious!

I’ve been seeing it on TV recently, and wanted to post it a while ago, but only now found a copy of it online.

Watch it below:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pA99QOQmTI]

Why? Why on earth does this ad actually exist?

Somebody at Microsoft needs to be fired for allowing this atrocity to be released to the public.

I need to find the street address for the agency that created this immediately so I can corner everyone involved with this project & spend 3 hours pointing & laughing at them.

[youtube=http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=3oGFogwcx-E]

1. Yes. It’s a real product.
2. Yes. It’s a real ad spot.

Btw, I know this ad was supposed to be intentionally corny (I assume it was anyways), but it’s just so… so… WHYYY??????

Excerpt:

XXLMag.com: What have you been working on recently?

Mack Maine: I’m working on a Don Canon mixtape. A lot of people think it should be my album, because it’s all original beats, so I decided to name it This is Just a Mixtape: The Realest To Never Do It. [Plus], the album is stupid man, I got 230 songs; I’m recording every night. I’m about do my first movie. I just started reading the script on the plane and it’s a pretty interesting movie. I’m also working on my documentary that’s supposed to come out in theaters sometime soon. Denzel and Will Smith are getting kinda old, I’m about to see if I can fill that void, you know, just to give it a shot.

XXL: So you try to touch it all, not just music?

Mack: Yeah, music’s just a start. Kush Entertainment is where we put out DVDs, and I’m the CFO. I also just started my own label, called Soothe Your Soul Music. You know, it soothes your soul, baby! We touchin’ souls around here, we not just tryna make you dance. Dancing is a part of soothing your soul, but you might laugh, you might cry, you might release your stress away.

XXL: Can you talk a little bit about your relationship with Lil Wayne?

Mack Maine: That’s my brother. We rock like brothers from the same, not from another. We’ve been good friends since like age 5. We were raised by the same people, came up under the same structure, and were taught the same morals and values on life. Now he’s up for eight Grammys. That’s big for the team. I watched that dude rap when he was eight years old and I thought he was weird, man. We’d be playing basketball and he’s on the side, and we like, “What the fuck is he talkin’ about?” Back then, there weren’t no kid rappers. And now he’s up for eight Grammys and it’s just like, wow.

Click here to read the rest of Mack Maine’s interview with XXLMag.com.

Parade Magazine recently asked soon-to-be President, Barack Obama (I still can’t believe it!), to discuss what he wanted for his children.

He responded with an open letter to his 2 daughters:

Dear Malia and Sasha,

I know that you’ve both had a lot of fun these last two years on the campaign trail, going to picnics and parades and state fairs, eating all sorts of junk food your mother and I probably shouldn’t have let you have. But I also know that it hasn’t always been easy for you and Mom, and that as excited as you both are about that new puppy, it doesn’t make up for all the time we’ve been apart. I know how much I’ve missed these past two years, and today I want to tell you a little more about why I decided to take our family on this journey.

When I was a young man, I thought life was all about me-about how I’d make my way in the world, become successful, and get the things I want. But then the two of you came into my world with all your curiosity and mischief and those smiles that never fail to fill my heart and light up my day. And suddenly, all my big plans for myself didn’t seem so important anymore. I soon found that the greatest joy in my life was the joy I saw in yours. And I realized that my own life wouldn’t count for much unless I was able to ensure that you had every opportunity for happiness and fulfillment in yours. In the end, girls, that’s why I ran for President: because of what I want for you and for every child in this nation.

I want all our children to go to schools worthy of their potential-schools that challenge them, inspire them, and instill in them a sense of wonder about the world around them. I want them to have the chance to go to college-even if their parents aren’t rich. And I want them to get good jobs: jobs that pay well and give them benefits like health care, jobs that let them spend time with their own kids and retire with dignity.

I want us to push the boundaries of discovery so that you’ll live to see new technologies and inventions that improve our lives and make our planet cleaner and safer. And I want us to push our own human boundaries to reach beyond the divides of race and region, gender and religion that keep us from seeing the best in each other.

Sometimes we have to send our young men and women into war and other dangerous situations to protect our country-but when we do, I want to make sure that it is only for a very good reason, that we try our best to settle our differences with others peacefully, and that we do everything possible to keep our servicemen and women safe. And I want every child to understand that the blessings these brave Americans fight for are not free-that with the great privilege of being a citizen of this nation comes great responsibility.That was the lesson your grandmother tried to teach me when I was your age, reading me the opening lines of the Declaration of Independence and telling me about the men and women who marched for equality because they believed those words put to paper two centuries ago should mean something.

She helped me understand that America is great not because it is perfect but because it can always be made better-and that the unfinished work of perfecting our union falls to each of us. It’s a charge we pass on to our children, coming closer with each new generation to what we know America should be.

I hope both of you will take up that work, righting the wrongs that you see and working to give others the chances you’ve had. Not just because you have an obligation to give something back to this country that has given our family so much-although you do have that obligation. But because you have an obligation to yourself. Because it is only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you will realize your true potential.

These are the things I want for you-to grow up in a world with no limits on your dreams and no achievements beyond your reach, and to grow into compassionate, committed women who will help build that world. And I want every child to have the same chances to learn and dream and grow and thrive that you girls have. That’s why I’ve taken our family on this great adventure.

I am so proud of both of you. I love you more than you can ever know. And I am grateful every day for your patience, poise, grace, and humor as we prepare to start our new life together in the White House.

Love, Dad

[via Parade Magazine]

[See post to listen to audio]
Bullet – Earth Girls (Technomix)
Produced by Slot-A 

Click here to download Earth Girls Technomix

Related Links:
Bullet on MySpace
Bullet on Twitter

By now most of you should already be familiar with B.o.B. If not, please get familiar (word to Clinton Sparks) immediately and make sure to spread word to the masses that the future of music is here.

He just released the music video to his song, “I’ll Be In The Sky”, in which he’s depicted as an alien and… just watch the video.

The video was directed by Gabriel Hart, whose been making quite a name for himself recently. Definitely keep a lookout for him as he’s likely to take over your favourite websites with his highly creative video treatments.

It’s the start of a new year – and the year that Barack Obama is entering office as the 44th President of the USA, at that – and this is how it starts off?

Disgusting.

Watch the video below and find out what you can do.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh578GzICJc]

Click here to find out 5 things you can do right now about the Oscar Grant shooting.

Seeing how it’s Christmas Day, I thought I’d to leave a couple Christmas eGifts under the MakingTheMogul.com tree for you to download and enjoy.

Click on the mixtape covers to download:

Download “A Funkadelic Christmas” from Funkadelic Freestyles,
DCtoBC & ThatRealIsh

Download Marsha Ambrosius’ new mixtape, “Yours Truly”

Download Mick Boogie Presents Adele – 1988

Download “Who The F#*k Is B.o.B”

Stay blessed, stay safe & please remember not to drink & drive.

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!

You already know what I’ve been going through with my web hosting issues lately, so I’ll spare you the recap (you can view my previous posts) and get right into it.

I received a lot of great referrals and have spoken to a TON of hosting companies over the past 2 weeks: BlueHost, MediaTemple, Choopa, DreamHost, SurpassHosting, GoDaddy, etc. The list literally goes on and on.

I contacted ALL of them. It took me forever but I did it. One reason was because I wanted to really get my feet wet and find out what was being offered but also because I wanted to understand what I needed.

I’m not the most technical person in the world but I can tell when someone is just trying to sell, so I contacted them all to ask them the same questions over and over again so I can hear multiple replies and learn about this stuff.

They say the only way to learn something is to ask questions; so that’s what I did.

The main thing I learned from all this: the web hosting industry might be very competitive, but it’s not very innovative.

What I mean by that is, they all pretty much operate the exact same way. It’s more or less the same technology, used in the same ways and only priced & marketed differently to drive competition.

They’re not setup to “think differently”.

Here are two small but important things I’ve learned about hosting:

There’s No Such Thing As “Unlimited” Bandwidth

“Unlimited” is just a sales pitch to attract people like me who don’t want to look at a bunch of technical specs but just assume that we’ll be covered.

There’s always a cap, but if you are on a shared account, chances are your website won’t see the type of traffic to ever see overages anyways.

Unlimited Bandwidth Does Not Equal Unlimited Resources

Given the fact that there is no real “unlimited bandwidth”, that still doesn’t make note of system resources.

Photo Credit: John Morris

On your computer, you might be browsing the net on Firefox, listening to music on iTunes, chatting with friends on AIM and typing a document in Word. Each of these programs uses up resources on your computer.

Same thing applies to web servers, but instead of just one person using these programs, it’s everybody who visits your website that uses these programs.

Not only that, if you’re on a shared account, you’re probably sharing that one server with about 700 other customers. So imagine all of your visitors, plus the visitors of all those other 700 customers.

That’s a massive flood of people.

So that entire audience is accessing your site and therefore using a piece of your server’s resources. On a shared account, you only get a certain percentage of those resources allocated to you. By adding resource hogging plugins or getting a spike in traffic, you can end up going over that percentage and your account will be temporarily suspended so that the other 700 sites on your server remain uninterrupted.

Imagine the amount of traffic you get from the front page of Digg.com. That amount of traffic will definitely create major downtime for you like it did for me.

My account was knocked off for a good 20 hours as I searched for solutions while still doing my best to do my actual work, which at the time was managing 3 short-staffed events (hell on earth).

My old webhost, HostGator, continuously tried to sell me a $300/month dedicated server as a “solution”.

$300 a month?

I barely pay $300 a year right now!

I kept trying to explain to them that this was the first time my site has ever experienced that type of traffic and that I truly do not require a dedicated server.

This is a PERSONAL blog. I don’t update it multiple times a day or even daily.

Hell, sometimes I don’t even post for a week or two.

I don’t sell ads on here and I don’t put any budget into promoting it. Only word-of-mouth & word-of-mouse. That’s it.

Keeping that in mind, while my web traffic is decent for a personal blog, it in no way compares to NecoleBitchie.com or NahRight.com. So a $300/month dedicated server would be a little overkill for my needs; especially since I don’t run any ads on here like I mentioned.

Before I get a bunch of replies from tech folk breaking down all the technical reasons why most web hosting companies are  set up that way; let me say this:

I don’t care.

People shouldn’t have to conform to technical limitations; technical solutions should be made to meet consumer needs.

So before leaving a comment or sending me an email telling me about how servers are built and why there is nothing on the market to cater to my needs; understand that I’m not the type of person to accept those kinds of limitations. That doesn’t make any sense to me.

As long as it takes, I will hunt for a solution.

All I wanted is a hosting account where I could be equipped with enough specs (bandwidth, storage, etc) to keep me running smoothly on a daily basis and also be equipped to handle occasional spikes in traffic like the one I experienced.

Is that too much to ask for?

Apparently, it is.

For the technical reasons I’ve specified above, no web hosts were able to attend to my needs and all started pitching me $300/month accounts or told me to take my chances with a shared account but will experience another suspension if I get any more Digg-like spikes.

So basically, pay a ton or hinder your site’s potential.

Luckily, I was able to find one company that works differently; MediaTemple.

Apparently, they created their own system to handle situations like this. Instead of being setup on a server with limited resources, I’m setup on a “cluster grid” with access to resources on other systems throughout that grid. So my site can access the resources it needs whenever it needs it.

Think of it like this: rather than only having access to the clothes in your closet (most hosting companies), you can have access to all the clothes in the mall (mt).

Interestingly enough, when I spoke with a few of the web hosts mentioned above, some of them even recommended that I go with MediaTemple. I didn’t understand why until a few of them began to defining me as a “prosumer with custom needs”, which they (and apparently 99% of the hosting companies) are not equipped to service.

Not because they’re not good; but because they’re not setup to serve this niche (even though I believe this isn’t as niche as they may assume).

Most hosting companies don’t create their own technology; they just buy, maintain and sell it in packages.

Luckily, MediaTemple is setup differently.

This isn’t an ad for them; rather this is my expression of relief that I was able to find what I was looking for.

Many people have been messaging me about this whole ordeal and asking which host I ended up choosing and why; mostly because they face similar issues and need answers.

Well, MediaTemple was my choice. So far, they’ve been great at helping me get all setup and I hope to see it continue down this lane.

Plus – their logo looks kinda cool on my blog :)

*Note: I originally posted this on Tuesday, however my blog wasn’t fully transported to my new webhost, so even though it showed up in RSS feeds everywhere; that post has been lost in cyberspace. This is a repost.*

If you visited my site anywhere between 1am and 10pm yesterday, you probably saw something that looked like this:

Obviously, this had me in FUMES given the very recent issues I’ve been having with HostGator, so I contacted them via their online live chat.

This is how the conversation went:

HostGator Tech Support: Welcome to HostGator, how may I assist you? 

Moe: Hi. I’m having a major issue with my account right now. All my domains are being directed to searchportal.information.com 

HostGator Tech Support: When did this start to happen? 

Moe: I got a few emails about it overnight.. the first one being timed at 2am. I only noticed them now though. 

HostGator Tech Support: What is your primary name on the account and what are all the addon domains on that account? 

Moe: My primary domain is ——–. That one is showing up fine. Many of my addon domains, including my blog, MakingTheMogul.com, are being redirected for some reason though. None of my domains are up for expiration or anything of the sort, so I know it’s not that. 

HostGator Tech Support: One moment please 

Moe: Sure 

HostGator Tech Support: Ok it should be fixed now. 

Moe: It’s still doing the same in Safari. I’ll try in Firefox 

HostGator Tech Support: ok 

Moe: Nope. Still the same. I just checked on 2 different computers as well 

HostGator Tech Support: After looking into this it looks like there was a dns issue on the domain on our servers and I had that corrected you would just have to wait for it to propagate to our servers. 

Moe: How long does that take? 

HostGator Tech Support: it can take up to 12 hours. 

Moe: Wow. How did this happen? 

HostGator Tech Support: Well I am not sure I just noticed that on the server level and I corrected that. I am not sure exactly how it happened though and I apologize about that. 

Moe: Thanks for fixing it. I appreciate *your* help. It’s just too bad I’m having nothing but issues with HostGator these days. Definitely time to switch to another, more reliable hosting company. Bye HostGator.

And I did say bye.

I was already planning on leaving after my recent fiasco, but assumed I had a little bit of time to figure it out and wouldn’t experience any more issues now that things have settled down.

Instead?

I woke up to dozens of messages from people telling me that my website was being directed to a generic search portal.

WHAT? HOW?

I might not be the most technical person on this earth, but regardless of what nuances someone tells me about why something on a server messes up, the end fact is – it messed up!

Sorry, but that doesn’t cut it. I’m a results person. You can offer me free hosting in an attempt to accommodate me for major inconveniences, but what good is free garbage if it’s still garbage?

Bye HostGator.

I’ve already opened an account with a new hosting company and currently transferring over all of my sites & files.

I’ve gotten MANY great recommendations for web hosting companies via email, Facebook & Twitter, and have contacted all of them. In the past week, I’ve spoken to at least 25 different web hosting companies. Some of them offered great prices and come highly recommended as being 110% on their customer service and tech support game.

Although, I would have loved to go with any one of these hosts, only one was able to offer what I need. Even some of these other hosting companies suggested I go with them after I explained my wants and needs.

That says something!

Thank you to everybody who suggested web hosts to me via emails, Facebook & Twitter.

I’ll post tomorrow to tell you which company I’ve chosen and why :)